Tag: Projects

A while back I picked up a new piece of machinery to help with many of our projects. It is not what I was originally looking for. I had been looking for a backhoe attachment for my Kubota tractor. The Kubota B20 was designed to be a TLB (Tractor / Loader / Backhoe) and has a frame integrated quick attach system designed for the matching BT650 backhoe unit. This is more solid and preferable to 3 point mounted units. The added weight due to this frame design makes them surprisingly capable and the backhoe units for them rarely come up for sale.

Loading your tractor tires with windshield washer fluid is an easy upgrade giving more traction, better hill stability, and additional weight / ballast. This is also helps with using a front end loader. I decided to use windshield washer fluid since it is inexpensive, easy to obtain, will not freeze, and will not corrode the wheels like calcium and some of the other wheel ballast options.

This is an update to our DIY How To series on How to Build a Large Solar Generator. In this follow up post, I will show you how we can use the quick connects designed into our solar generator to expand both the solar charging capacity, as well as the battery bank for increased run times.

A lot of the feedback was asking how to expand the solar generator to an even bigger capacity system. When I designed the base unit, I wanted it to be very easily expandable using quick connects. There are two areas where we can easily do that with our system:

I just posted several updates to the Kubota B20 project thread in the forum. I had hoped the next update was going to be of a running engine, but instead it’s more tear down pics and photos of cracks in the cylinder head that I missed the first time around.

I developed a new engine noise after a high speed run on my 2004 Yamaha Grizzly 660.

In the video I will take you step by step through my process of troubleshooting and how to isolate the cause of the noise, and then assess the damage. I also demonstrate how to use a mechanics stethoscope, check for loose valves, check spark plug color for ignition issues, how to check valve timing, and several other common issues while we looked for the issue.

Yazoo Mowers are becoming increasingly rare, but they have an almost cult following of fans and owners. They are very unique in their design, allowing them to have a zero-degree turning radius way before the modern hydraulic zero-turn mower was invented, and they have a gear shift lever that allows quick transitions from forward to reverse.

We just recently moved to a new property, and tucked away in an old out -building was this abandoned trailer. I was looking for a trailer small enough for the four wheeler to pull, and while this will need a little fixing up, I think it will be perfect for the job.

The trailer was full of junk, had a flat tire with one wheel partially buried, and mouse nest through-out the inside of the differential. It had definitely been sitting a while! Looking at the body shape and construction, it was originally built from a 47′- 54′ Chevrolet Pickup!